Children's home run by Wigan Council in Wigan

Requires improvement

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Young people have experienced inconsistency in their care. The registered manger reports that the recent restructure in the organisation has impacted on the care provided.  Medication records are not robust and do not contain all required information.  Some of the records that the home is required to maintain provide inaccurate and incomplete information. This hinders the formal processes needed to monitor young people‟s progress and to address how their individual needs are met. In particular placement plans and risk assessments.  The home environment, specifically young people‟s bedrooms, was of a poor standard. This did not reflect the nurturing care that staff were trying to promote.  Measures of control, discipline and restraint are not consistently evaluated for effectiveness. Neither do they provide sufficient detail of the measure used, nor include the young person‟s view. They are not, therefore,

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

compliant with the Children‟s Home‟s Regulations 2015.  On occasions, managers have failed to ensure there is appropriate monitoring within the home to adequately review the quality of care and identify areas for improvements.

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The children’s home strengths

 Young people are making progress in their education  Young people are supported to have meaningful and safe contact with their families  Staff support young people to address their health needs.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children‟s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(1) that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure: (a) that staff: (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (b) that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must: (2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. They must also notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of 30/12/2016 medicines received into the children‟s home. They must also ensure that a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23(1)(2)(c)) 33: Employment of staff

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

35: Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out: (1) (a) how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and (b) the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. (2) The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (3) The registered person must ensure that: (a) within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— (i) the name of the child; (ii) details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; (iii) the date, time and location of the use of the measure; (iv) a description of the measure and its duration; (v) details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; (vi) the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"),

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Requirement Due date

and of any other person present when the measure was used; (vii) the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and (viii) a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; (b) within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")— (i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and (ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 30/12/2016 (c) within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(1)(a)(b)(2)(3)(a)(b)(c)) 36: Children‟s case records

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which: (a) include the information and documents listed in schedule 3 in relation to each child; (b) are kept up to date; and (c) are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(a)(b)(c)) 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep in and maintain in the children‟s home the records in schedule 4 and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37(1)(2)(a)(b)) 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(3)) 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if: (a)a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; (b) an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious (Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)). 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports

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Requirement Due date

(4) The independent person must produce a report about a visit („the independent person's report‟) which sets out, in particular, the independent person‟s opinion as to whether: (a) children are effectively safeguarded; and whether: (b) the conduct of the home promotes children‟s well-being. (Regulation 44(4)(a)(b)) 30/12/2016

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Information about this children’s home

This children‟s home is owned by the local authority. It provides residential care to five young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/11/2015 Full Requires improvement 19/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/01/2015 Full Outstanding

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Requires improvement

Young people have experienced inconsistency in their care. The registered manager reports that the recent restructure to the organisation and the changes to young people living at the home have had a „significant impact on the stability and consistency within the home.‟ New staff have been introduced to the team and some long-standing members have moved on. There has also been a necessity to use agency staff, due to staff shortages. This has led to instability in relation to both the staff and care practices. This has impacted on young people who openly talked about the inconsistencies in responses to requests and the frequent changes of staff. One young person said, „One day the answer is yes, the next it‟s no for the same thing and they [staff], wonder why we kick off.‟

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Requires improvement

Relationships between staff and young people are variable. Some young people reported that they were able to talk to staff and managers if they were unhappy, but other young people felt that they were „not listened to‟ and said, „there is no point raising complaints as no one listens.‟ Complaint records were reviewed at the inspection and no complaints had been documented since the last inspection. The registered manager acknowledged that there had been complaints made by young people during this time and reported that these had been addressed. Shortfalls in recordings are hindering internal and external monitoring of how the home responds to and resolves young people‟s complaints.

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Requires improvement

Young people are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyles. Staff acknowledge young people‟s right to make choices about their health, but seek to educate and influence individuals when there can be improvements, for example by encouraging healthy eating. However, not all health records detail the work completed by staff to promote healthy lifestyles, including the encouragement for young people to attend all planned or emergency health appointments. This does not provide a detailed overview of young people‟s health needs and the strategies, support and guidance in place to promote them.

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Requires improvement

Care planning is not consistently effective to meet the needs of all young people. Although managers have obtained all relevant paperwork from placing social workers, the objectives are not always reflected within the homes placement plans. Consequently, staff are not consistently following the local authorities plan in meeting young people‟s needs. Furthermore, staff do not always work as a team and this had caused confusion for some young people. This does not ensure young people are provided with consistent, stable and reliable support. Young people are supported to access education, training and employment. One young person has successfully completed his formal education and gained an apprenticeship with the local authority. He said, „I really like it, especially the pay. I have got a car and I am starting to get new stuff, including my new bed, for when I move.‟ Those who do not attend school are provided with home tutoring.

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Requires improvement

Although this does not equate to 25 hours per week, staff have developed a practical based skills programme to ensure young people receive appropriate supported to achieve their full potential. Furthermore, the registered manager has continued to challenge the local authority about the lack of education alternatives and has liaised with both the virtual head and special educational needs panels, to continue to promote young people‟s rights to a full time programme.

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Requires improvement

Young people are supported to maintain contact with important people in their lives. Staff are available for young people during and after contact sessions to offer any support they may need. For example, The deputy manager have organised and facilitated contact for a young person who have not had contact with their family for some time. Direct work was completed with the young person before, during and after contact to ensure the visit was meaningful and safe. Both the young person and family member shared with the inspectors their excitement and happiness about the „thoughtful‟ and „considerate‟ way the session was planned. The young person said, „Although I was bit nervous, [name of worker] talked to me and let me know it was ok to be nervous. I don‟t know why I was in the end because it was great and I‟m going again soon.‟

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Requires improvement

Parts of the home‟s environment are poor. Some young people‟s bedrooms were unclean and one bedroom has numerous bin bags stacked up in wardrobes. Staff were unclear about what the bin bags contained and reported they had been there since the young person moved in. In other young people‟s bedrooms, there were computer games and Dvds that were rated as aged 18 years, and a young person had wrote profanity on their walls. Staff had failed to address this with young people. During the inspection, the inspectors brought to staff‟s attention the condition of young people‟s bedrooms. They acknowledged that the rooms were of poor standards and said, „we have talked about the state of the rooms with both managers and other staff, but nothing has happened. I would not let my child‟s room stay like that.‟ While staff took immediate action to rectify the issues raised, the home‟s daily routine had not enabled staff to take effective action sooner.

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Requires improvement

Some young people report that they feel safe living in the home and have adults they can talk to if they are worried or upset. When incidents of bullying had occurred, staff have taken immediate action to support all young people involved. One young person said, „They talked to us about how what we do and say can hurt other people, without us really thinking about it. It made me stop and think.‟

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Requires improvement

Effective working relationships have been established with parents and other professionals such as social workers. This was confirmed in feedback from the homes tutor who said, „Managers are helpful and keep me regularly updated.‟ Others report that staff consistently share information about young people to ensure they are updated. Furthermore, staff attend all relevant multi agency meetings, to ensure they are working as part of a wider team to meet young people‟s needs.

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Requires improvement

There has been an increase in young people going missing from care and being absent without permission. At the point young people go missing, staff act appropriately and in a timely manner. They notify the police, family members and the local authority so action can be taken to find them. Any serious concerns are escalated to multi-disciplinary strategy meetings. This ensures all safeguarding professionals are working together to assess and minimise risk. However, some records do not accurately reflect all actions taken by staff, the length of time young people are missing, or the circumstances around their return, including if return home interviews have been facilitated. Not only does this fail to demonstrate that all young people are offered the opportunity to speak to an independent person upon their return. It does not demonstrate all the positive work undertaken by staff to ensure young people are quickly located and have a safe return

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Requires improvement

Although risk assessments are in place and outline the measures needed to support young people in the home, the community and during activities, they are not consistently reviewed or updated and on occasions, staff members have failed to sign and date records with the author of the entry. When young people move into the home and new risks become evident, the impact on the young person and others living in the home, including staff, are not routinely assessed. At times, strategies to enhance young people‟s safety are not put in place, such as, referrals to specialist‟s teams who support young people who may be a risk of child sexual exploitation. As a result, young people are not yet benefitting from good safeguarding practice due to shortfalls in risk assessments and the seeking of specialist support. However, the registered manager acknowledged these shortfalls and had already started to take action to address these issues with an immediate

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Requires improvement

There are errors in the recording and administration of medication to young people. For example, when errors were made, they were crossed out without any explanation. In addition, when some young people refused to take their medication, it was not documented within their medication records. This does not demonstrate efficient administration or monitoring of young people‟s medication. Furthermore, there was no evidence of direct work being completed to help young people understand the importance of taking their medication on a daily basis and therefore the effect on their health and well-being of not doing so. Staff within the home have undertaken room searches. Staff reported they were conducted because of young people self-harming and when young people were missing from care. However, not all room search documentation was completed. Rooms had been searched on occasions and staff had not followed the homes own

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Requires improvement

policies and procedures, by completing all required documentation. This was discussed with the registered manager, who had also not had a clear overview of all incidents and had not taken opportunities to reflect on practices within the home and if any further safe strategies needed to be considered. Young people do not always benefit from clear and consistent boundaries in the staffs approach to managing their behaviour. Staff report that this is due to recent changes within the home resulting in staff using different behaviour strategies. The inconsistency in staff practice is creating uncertainty and anxiety for young people, because they have become unsure of the rules and expectations of the home. Furthermore, behaviour management records also demonstrate inconsistencies in staff practice. For example, some records did not evaluate the effectiveness of the measure used and others lacked management overview. Improvements can be

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Requires improvement

made in behaviour management practice and recording to ensure greater consistency in staff practice and effectiveness of the measures used.

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Requires improvement

During the inspection, staff and a young person brought to the attention of the inspectors, incidents were physical intervention had taken place. There was no documentation completed to indicate why the measure was necessary or how it had been managed effectively. In addition, when young people have sustained injuries, for example, scalding themselves and requiring hospital treatment, no accident or incident sheets were completed. This is fails to follow the homes own policies and procedures and is a breach the children‟s homes regulations.

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Inadequate

A qualified and experienced manager manages the home, with the support of her deputy manager. Staff reported that the managers are „supportive‟ and „willing to listen to any new ideas.‟ The home has adequate staffing in place to meet the needs of the young people living there. Staff members either are qualified to level 3 NVQ or are undertaking this essential training. The home has implemented an on-going staff development and training programme, which provides staff with further skills and knowledge to meet young people‟s needs. Staff were complimentary about the range of training offered.

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Inadequate

Staff say that „changes in the organisation‟, „the restructure‟ and „low staff morale‟ has impacted upon young people‟s sense of well-being and security, as well as creating disruption to the systems and processes within the home. This is manifested in both care plans and risks assessments that fail to clearly identify and address young people‟s significant needs. Although some staff are knowledgeable about young people, they have come to rely on word of mouth and discussion rather than written planning. As a result, staff and managers address emerging issues, such as mental health needs, by setting up appointments with specialists without fully understanding their role in supporting young people‟s development. Not only does this impair progress, it also creates inconsistency in the way young people are supported.

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Inadequate

Similarly, staff support mechanisms have varied in their frequency and impact on improving care practices. This includes irregular supervision and team meetings. This has not provided all staff with an opportunity to reflect on their practices and discuss their views around „the changes in the home‟, „the lack of consistency‟ and the impact on the young people. Similarly, management oversight of records of direct work such as key-worker sessions, discipline and behaviour management, and how incidents are managed has not been sufficiently rigorous to identify shortfalls in staff practice that, if addressed, would improve the quality of care provided. This includes, for example, staff‟s misunderstanding of anxiety-related behaviours and child sexual exploitation.

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Inadequate

Staff duty rosters fail to accurately reflect the actual staff on duty, and lack transparency. This prevents a clear audit trail of who is working within the setting, when and where. During discussions with the registered manager, she accepted that the rotas had not been fully updated. It was reported that staff also sign the handover books. However, when inspectors looked at the handover book in November, on four occasions it had not been completed to show which staff were on shift. The lack of transparency of who is on duty potentially places young people at risk and compromises the continuity of care.

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Inadequate

When there have been significant events involving young people living at the home, including requests for police assistance, there have been no notifications sent to Ofsted. This does not allow the regulator to have a clear overview of all safeguarding incidents and is in breach of the children‟s homes regulation 2015. Furthermore, the statement of purpose, which is kept under review, contains inaccuracies about the staff working at the home, including the status of the registered manager. This requires updating and a copy providing to Ofsted.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against „Inspection of children‟s homes: framework for inspection‟. An outstanding children‟s home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children‟s home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children‟s home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements

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What the inspection judgements mean

are in place, however, the children‟s home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children‟s home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children‟s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children‟s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children‟s

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟. the guidance, „Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted‟, which is available from Ofsted‟s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children‟s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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